Page 19 of The Tree of Spirits (Paragons #2)

THE HOOK

T he Spirit Tree was a living monument of magic, a crossroads at the center of the Interchange. Its branches seemed to sway at a speed outside of normal time and space, like they were now and then and will be —all at the same time.

“Every Spirit Tree in the Many Realms is unique. Each one tells a different story, but they are all beautiful. I never grow tired of staring at them,” Rane said, smiling up at the tree.

“It is magnificent,” Ansel agreed.

Wind rustled the tree’s silver branches, flicking off the blossoms like someone blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. The purple and blue flowers whirled around us like a tornado, so thick that I couldn’t see past them.

Then they just stopped. They hovered in the air, frozen, suspended in time for a few moments.

Time sped up again. The blossoms swirled into motion once more, streaming past us like a swarm of butterflies.

The spectacle was so mesmerizing that I nearly missed the cloaked figure skimming the shadows.

I started humming. The invisible fingers of my spell snatched the wayward petals out of the air, molding them into a net.

I hummed faster, and the net shot toward the cloaked culprit.

It scooped him up and dropped him at my feet.

“Whoa, where did you learn to do that ?” Ansel gaped at me.

“From a Knight.” I blew air through my teeth, and the net of petals dispersed like dust in the wind.

The cloak stirred, and a man emerged from it. I knew his face.

“Xael,” I said.

He spat a petal out of his mouth. “How did you know I’d be here?”

“Why do you think I had my friend send the message to everyone at Raytan’s Removals and Intelli-move?

I was sure whoever stole those trucks and set the explosion worked for one of the two companies.

And I knew if the culprit thought the Watchers were about to expose him, he’d rush to the Spirit Tree and escape this world.

I wanted to see who ran. I thought it might be you.

You sure went through a lot of trouble to avoid fighting in that war. ”

Rane’s eyes went wide. “Oh, so that’s what this is about.

I’ve heard stories of Metamorphs hurting themselves to avoid conscription.

So many have tried it, in fact, that their leaders have grown suspicious of any so-called accidental injuries that befall a Metamorph about to ship out.

” She looked at Xael. “So you decided if you got a bunch of gung-ho recruits injured along with you, it wouldn’t look so suspicious after all? Shame on you!”

He gave her an icy look. “Would you want to fight in a stupid, pointless war?”

“No.” She scowled. “Not really. But I’d at least try to find a less cowardly way to get out of it.”

“He’s not a coward!”

A young woman peeled out of the shadows, her hood folded back from her face.

“Hey, I know you,” Rane said, frowning at Xael and the woman, who were now holding hands and giving each other googly eyes. “But that would mean…whoa!” She started laughing. “Your families are totally going to freak out!”

“Care to fill in the rest of us?” Ansel asked her, serenely braiding his fingers together in his lap.

“That’s Miatrix.” Rane pointed at the woman. “She’s Isidora’s…niece or something. I can’t remember. But the point is she’s an Elf. And her sweetheart there—” She pointed at Xael. “—is a Metamorph.”

I remembered what Rane had told me earlier about romantic relationships between the supernatural races. “So…this isn’t about the war.”

“Of course it’s about the war. Our clans are on opposite sides of it. That makes our families sworn enemies.” Miatrix gingerly stroked Xael’s broken arm. “And I refuse to call him my enemy.”

I looked at Xael. “So this is why you did all of this? For love?”

“I can’t let them send me to the war!” His voice was savage, his eyes desperate. “If I do, I will have to fight her people. I will have to kill her people.”

“Please just let Xael step through the Spirit Tree with me,” Miatrix pleaded with us. “Then we’ll disappear. You won’t ever see us again. We don’t want to hurt anyone. We only want to be together!”

“What about the stolen trucks?” I asked.

“I parked them somewhere safe,” Xael told me. “Raytan has trackers on all of them. He’ll find them in no time.”

“And the explosion?” I pointed out. “Are you really sure you don’t want to hurt anyone?”

He winced. “I made sure no one got seriously injured.”

What a mess.

“Believe me, I wish there were another way,” Xael said. “I wish our clans could forget their hatred and their prejudices. But that just isn’t going to happen. The six races tolerate one another, but they don’t like one another.”

“Truth,” Rane muttered.

“Please,” Miatrix said. “We’ve been trying for so long to figure out a way for us to be together.

Neither of us has had a good night’s sleep in months.

I’m always jolting awake, afraid that my family’s found out about us, that they will take me far away while I’m sleeping and lock me up.

And Xael’s been having terrible nightmares. ”

“Not all of them were terrible. The solution to our problem came to me in a dream. I escaped the draft and then we ran through the Spirit Tree, hand in hand, off to build a new life together.” Xael gave her such a genuinely affectionate look, even I couldn’t help but root for their love story.

Though the overabundance of sappy looks and coy smiles bouncing between the two of them also made me a little nauseous.

“Go.” I sighed, waving them away. “I won’t try to stop you.”

Relief flashed in Xael’s eyes. “Thank you.”

Then he and Miatrix sprinted for the tree. The trunk opened for them, and they disappeared inside, catapulted to somewhere in the Many Realms.

“Wow,” Ansel said when they were gone. “I can’t believe you let him go.”

“I can.” Rane grinned at me. “Savannah is such a romantic.”

“I didn’t have the heart to stop him,” I said. “Yeah, he made some majorly bad choices?—”

“Nearly blowing up his family,” Rane inserted.

“—but he’s kind of a victim of this whole broken system you explained to me, Rane. And he is trying to break free of that system. He even fell in love with an Elf!”

“Oh, come on, Savannah. Admit it. You’re just a hopeless romantic at heart.” She winked at me.

“If that means I want people to start accepting other people for who they are, then, yes, call me a romantic.”

“No, that just makes you an awesome person.” She linked her arm with mine. “But I’m ready and willing to help you with the whole romance part.”

“You and everyone else in town,” I sighed. “But if you want to help me, there’s something you can do.”

“Anything.”

“Talk to Raytan and Isidora. Tell them what really happened. Before this whole thing blows up even more.”

She dropped her arms to her sides. “Yeah, I guess it’s fair that I do that since I’m the one who dragged you into this whole mess to begin with.

” She pulled out her buzzing phone and read the message.

“Huh. That’s interesting.” She glanced up from her screen.

“My dad just wrote that an appointment opened up with Intelli-move. They can remove our tree tomorrow afternoon!”

“That’s great,” I told her.

“Yeah.” She tucked her phone into the pocket of her shorts. “Well, I guess I’ll start with Isidora. Do you think she’ll still agree to move our tree after I break the news to her that her niece ran away with a Metamorph?”

“If it helps, blame the whole thing on me,” I said. “It’s what everyone does.”

Rane giggled. “Na, I think I can handle her. Thanks for all your help today, Savannah. It’s certainly been interesting.” She gave me a little wave, then skipped off down the street.

“She’s right,” Ansel told me. “It has been interesting. Now, might I suggest we hurry back to the conference center before our mentors send out the Watchers to look for us?”

“Good idea,” I agreed.

“Ok, but let me go first. Then give me a few minutes before you follow. We wouldn’t want everyone to suspect that I am your secret boyfriend.” He gave me a final parting wink before he left.